The Gladbrook-Reinbeck varsity boys cross country team pictured Thursday, Oct. 15, during the rainy NICL Conference Cross Country Meet hosted by Grundy Center. PHOTO COURTESY OF G-R SCHOOLS

GRUNDY CENTER – Gladbrook-Reinbeck sophomore harrier Caleb Pifkin placed in the top-10 at the NICL Conference Cross Country Meet hosted by Grundy Center at Town & Country Golf Club on Thursday, Oct. 15, earning a first team all-conference pick for his efforts.

Pifkin paced the Rebels by finishing eighth out of 82 scoring varsity boys runners with a time of 17 minutes, 55.70 seconds. Denver junior Jesse Gomez won the race in 16:36.70. Gomez was ranked No. 5 in Class 2A ahead of the meet by the Iowa Association of Track Coaches. Runner-up went to Oelwein junior Kaiden Irvine (16:38.60), who was ranked No. 9 in Class 2A ahead of the meet.

Caleb Bowser finished 36th for the Rebels (20:07.20), Dayton Heisi finished 62nd (23:26.50), Campbell Gramer 64th (23:35.20), and Mason Wrider 72nd (24:42.20) to round out G-R’s scoring.

The Rebel boys placed 8th out of 11 scoring teams with 220 points. Denver earned the conference title with 44 points followed by Jesup (62) and Dike-Hartford (77).

The Rebels’ lone varsity girls runner, freshman Colbie Fevold, ran a personal record 25:40.70 to place 70th.

This past Thursday, Oct. 22, the Rebels were scheduled to compete in a Class 1A state qualifier hosted by Colfax-Mingo at Thomas Mitchell Park in Mitchellville alongside runners from Baxter, Belle Plaine, BGM, Colfax-Mingo, Collins-Maxwell, Colo-NESCO, Earlham, East Marshall, GMG, HLV, Iowa Valley, Melcher-Dallas, Meskwaki Settlement School, Montezuma, North Mahaska, North Tama, New Sharon, Pleasantville, and Southeast Warren.

The 2026 state championships will be held at Lakeside Municipal Golf Course in Fort Dodge, Friday, Oct. 30 and Saturday, Oct. 31.